Friday, February 09, 2007

Can a duck swim?

Well, in a word, yes, but a book that (misguidedly) showed up for review this week is showing me that it's a more complicated question for some. Ian Stuart-Hamilton's An Asperger Dictionary of Everyday Expressions (Jessica Kingsley Publishers) explains that the question is "a sarcastic reply to a question to which the answer is obvious; for example, it might be the appropriate reply to the question 'would you like to be incredibly wealthy?'" The book similarly defines thousands of "everyday phrases that must be interpreted symbolically rather than literally"--a difficult process for people with autism spectrum disorders.

Not to mention the rest of us. I especially admire the way the author manages to define these allusive phrases with absolutely no employment of figurative terms himself and with appealing directness: "Go suck an egg: A forceful request to stop interfering and/or to leave." Each entry is marked with one, two or three asterisks to indicate the degree to which the idiom may offend. Because the book has a British slant, I've finally learned what it is to "go tits up" but I'm afraid I still need to see "taking the piss" used in a sentence.

34 comments:

I think not. R has trouble with "taking the piss" because it's not an American concept so when he gets too full of himself and we gently tease him, taking him down a peg or two, just taking the piss, he gets really indignant when really the whole thing is just casual, good-natured decimation.

Jeanne, that's just the trouble. That's a very earnest request that makes me quite sure you would be incapable of taking the piss because you would worry too much about hurting someone's feelings. You see, Americans don't get it.

You know, thinking about it, Anon above, I think Americans are too fond of having the moral upper hand and Canadians are too polite, I think, really,only the British know how to take the piss. There really isn't even an equivilent Canadian or American expression for it.

I think R. would be really excellent at taking the piss on the giving end - he has a great sense of irony and humor, but not so much in being on the receiving end and this is where the national temper really comes through. Americans take themselves far too seriously.

You raise a good point, 8:27pm, as there are two types of piss-take: the good-natured sort delivered by a friend, and the needling superior kind from a smarmy stranger in a pub that makes you spill your pint leaping over the table to butt them one in the face.

Oh, dear - some people seem to be taking this far too seriously. I'm English and I live in England, so can I please try to explain, without upsetting anyone?

'Taking the piss' is essentially 'making fun of' or 'mocking' someone. You can 'take the piss' in a friendly way, for instance:

'Come off it, you've never met Julia Roberts - you must be taking the piss'.

The expression is also used when someone is being what I would call 'cheeky' - that is, being presumptuous or expecting too much, for instance:

'You expect me to get you those papers by 9:00? You *are* taking the piss, right?'

If anyone saw the recent film 'The Devil Wears Prada', when the character Andrea's friends ask her how she managed to get a job at a fashion magazine and one of them says 'Was it a phone interview?' that is an example of friendly piss-taking. However, when Andrea's boss berates her for not managing to arrange a flight during a hurricane, that is an example of cheeky, annoying piss-taking.

Great explanation, but by continuing to use the truncated version of this common expression by dropping "out of" and not specifying a subject, you risk further twisting a pair of knickers already several sizes too small.

"Great explanation, but by continuing to use the truncated version of this common expression by dropping "out of" and not specifying a subject, you risk further twisting a pair of knickers already several sizes too small."

I'm afraid I can't take responsibility for the state of anyone's knickers - I'm just using the phrase the way it IS commonly used. I've never heard anyone say 'are you taking the piss OUT OF ME'. That would sound ridiculously formal. Not to mention giving scope for serious misunderstanding of the physiological terms involved...

Really? Ricky Gervais is among the first 152,000 results when you google "taking the piss out of". It's a pretty common variant. Another meaning of the many is 'taking unfair advantage of', if you believe various cockney/urban online dictionaries.

Anyway, isn't this time better used scribbling grammar corrections in library books?

About Me

I've been the editor in chief of The Horn Book, Inc, since 1996; previously editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and a children's and young adult librarian. Received my M.A. in library science from the University of Chicago in 1982 and a B.A. from Pitzer College in 1978.